Singing Flowers and Red Strawberries
by celtic-dreamscape-94
Summary: Jisbon Valentines OneShot. Lisbon hasn't got a Valentine, so what's Jane going to do about it?


_**A/N: I know I've already published this in my oneshots collection, but I wanted to post it separately on today, Valentine's day, seen as it's for today, and nobody can see a Valentine's fic when it's hidden amongst normal oneshots!**_

_**So Happy Valentine's Day, and I hope you enjoy. **_**:3**

Singing Flowers and Red Strawberries.

It was Valentine's Day, and the day had dragged on until late at the CBI Headquarters. Unfortunately, murderers didn't seem to want to stop murdering for any holiday or special day; even the day of love. Lisbon was just finishing up the stack of paperwork that had been created by the last case. This time, surprisingly, it wasn't _all _because of Jane. She sighed heavily as she marked the final page with a scruffy, tired signature which left much to be desired. She shoved it all to one side and let her pen fall to the desk with a clatter before she rested her forehead atop of the wooden surface, feeling sleep tugging at her eyelids.

She wished she had a date. Then she might have been able to escape earlier, leaving the paperwork for another time. But the last time Lisbon had had a Valentine was five years ago. She never really found the time for much of a personal life. The extent of her relaxation time was old movies and ice cream every now and then, snuggled into the couch in her over-sized football shirt, or reading a book on the odd occasion, dragging her away from the harsh reality of the career she had chosen with a little romance and affection. But not real romance and affection. She sighed heavily, lifting her head slightly just to let it fall back down with a thud. She remained in that position for a while, wondering why she always had to be alone, watching so many people leave the office early for their dinner dates, Van Pelt and Rigsby included.

Slowly, she dragged her head back off of the desk and pulled herself out of her chair. Looping her fingers through the handle of an empty mug, she took it hostage in her grip and stole it away to the break room to fill with a final coffee before she made her way home. Driving right now would be a bad idea, and would probably conclude in her falling asleep and crashing into a happy couple's vehicle while they made their way to their restaurant reservation. She laughed at how bitter she sounded on the subject of Valentine's. It was like she had taken up position of Scrooge, but for Valentine's Day.

Lisbon pressed down the button on the kettle and fished the coffee out of the cupboard, concealing a heavy yawn behind a bunched fist. She spooned three teaspoons-full of the ground coffee granules into the mug, needing the stronger hit of coffee. She almost felt like her knees were going to buckle on the spot, and she would melt to the ground in a heap; fall asleep until morning, where someone would come across her eventually and wake her up.

'Damn it...' she murmured as a few consecutive yawns made her eyes water, and cause the corners of her vision to twinkle. Dabbing her eyes lightly with a bit of shirt sleeve, she poured the now boiled water into the mug, stirring in a dash of milk before tidying away and slowly meandering back to her office. As yet another yawn broke free, she headed to the couch - the new one that Jane had randomly come up with a month or so ago (she had kept it in the end, despite her wanting her old one back just so she could be annoyed at Jane). She sunk into it, sipping her coffee delicately before letting her head fall back into the soft cushions. It was when she took a second sip that she noticed something on her desk. Her tired gaze flickered round to look at it, steadily focusing on the object which hadn't been there before.

'...Huh...?' she murmured, reluctantly standing from her couch and getting across to the desk, 'What is that?'

She looked down at the plush flower which sat on her desk, on top of a box of chocolates, a red shimmery ribbon tied around them. The flower had red petals, and a smiling face in the middle. Lisbon looked up from the gifts and round the office, all around the corridors and spaces visible from her office. She was sure no one else was left in the building, except her. And suddenly there were chocolates and a squishy soft flower on her desk. There had only been a few minutes between her leaving for the coffee and returning...and surely no one would have been able to slip past the break room without her noticing? Without really registering it, a slight pressure had gone from her fingers to the flower's stalk, and she almost jumped out of her skin as the flower began to sing. Lisbon's gaze snapped to the flower as it rang off a 'Will you be my valentine?' song. The little squeaky voice was a little tinny at the edges.

'What...?'

She stepped outside of her office, scouring the empty hallways for someone to appear, declaring that they had left the gifts for her. Her first guess would have been Jane, due to the ridiculous flower that was still singing in her hand, but she was sure he had left a long time ago, and why would he ask her to be his Valentine? Lisbon stood in the slightly darkened hallway, her eyebrows creased together, still searching the area, waiting for someone to come out of hiding. But someone appearing wasn't what happened next. It was the flower again. This time it was speaking, rather than singing, with a voice that Lisbon immediately knew was Jane's. She stared with confusion, bringing the flower up from her side.

_Uh...is this thing on?... It's a flower, why am I asking if it's on? ... Anyway! Hello there, Lisbon! Happy Valentine's Day! Well, I hated to see you working in your office on the evening of Valentine's Day, without a date to go on, and don't try and say you have one, because I know you don't... But moving on, how about you join me on the roof in... let's say five minutes? You know you want to. This is Jane, over and out._

Lisbon simply stood there for a moment, mildly confused, and then slightly worried, and then moving on to shake her head softly with a smile. Honestly. She manoeuvred back into her office, placing the flower on the desk and opening the box of chocolates to pop one in her mouth before she left. If the flower had been a walky-talky, then she probably would have complained and rejected Jane's request, but there was nothing else to do, and now she was curious, so she carried the chocolates with her as she began for the elevator.

It was a fancy selection box with all sorts of flavours. Different fondants and truffle centres were wrapped in thick Belgian milk chocolate, drizzled with white chocolate or dark, and little flakes of chocolate just to make sure they were chocolaty enough. Lisbon savoured the taste of a gorgeous hazelnut praline filled one as the elevator took her to the upper floor. She barely noted that she should probably be worrying about what Jane had in store for her on the roof, but the chocolate was _really _nice...

It wasn't long before Lisbon was climbing the stairs up onto the roof of the CBI Headquarters, happily devouring another chocolate as she emerged onto the roof. She searched the roof in the dull light, to see a spot in the centre of the roof, where faint candle glow could be seen, causing the atmosphere around to illuminate with a soft golden glow. Lisbon smiled softly as she saw Jane sat on a blanket laid across the gravelly roof surface with a bottle of champagne and a plateful of something. She made her way across the roof towards him, the smile still stupidly plastered across her face.

'Jane?' she greeted amusedly.

'Oh, hey Lisbon! Glad you could join us.'

'Us?'

'Me and the bottle of champagne,' Jane grinned, ' Oh, and the plate of strawberries. They would have been gravely saddened if you hadn't shown up.'

Lisbon smiled, subtly biting her lip as she sank cross-legged to the blanket.

'So, uh, what's this all for?'

'Well, I couldn't leave you alone in your office working on Valentine's night. So, if you'll let me, I'll be your last-minute Valentine.'

'You know people are usually meant to be in love or be in a relationship for them to be Valentines, right?'

'Details,' Jane replied with a smile, readying himself to pull the cork of the champagne. With a loud pop, the cork flew across the rooftop, narrowly missing bouncing off the edge, and a fountain of bubbly champagne burst from the bottle neck, dousing a candle in its flow. The growing darkness hugged them a little closer as the flame flickered out, leaving just three.

Lisbon laughed, 'Nicely done, Jane.'

'Why thank you...' he replied, letting soft laughter slip from his lips as he poured champagne into the two glasses before them, 'I thought so too.'

Taking her glass, Lisbon chinked glasses with Jane and took a sip, feeling the soft fizz of the golden liquid on her tongue. 'Mmm...' she murmured softly, 'That's good stuff.'

She leant back onto her hands, looking up at the sky, which was rapidly filling with silvery, twinkling stars. It was a still, clear night, with no clouds to haze the sky over, and the stars shone with a gentle silvery grey amongst the deep blue canvas of the night sky. There was a soft coolness in the air that was just right - not cold enough to chill.

'This is nice, Jane. Thank you,' Lisbon smiled, glancing over at her colleague.

'No problem... I could see you needed it,' he replied, giving her his own smile, 'Fancy a strawberry?'

'I do...'

Jane picked one from the plate, not letting her reach for one herself, and held it before her mouth, waiting for her to take a bite.

'You're going to feed me strawberries...?' Lisbon questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.

'Why not? Now bite.'

She narrowed her eyes and reached for the strawberry herself, but Jane whipped it out of the way, 'Ah, ah.'

Lisbon couldn't help the smile from creeping onto her lips as she opened them for the strawberry that Jane dangled in front of her again. He slowly moved it towards her mouth, smiling as she reached forward a little for the fruit. Pulling it away slightly, Jane grinned as Lisbon gave him a narrowed-eyes-sideways-glance.

'Gimme the strawberry,' she told him sternly. Jane laughed, moving the red fruit towards her again, watching her anticipate the taste, as her lips twitched slightly towards it again. He let her take the bite, but he couldn't stop himself from leaning forward and placing a kiss to the corner of her mouth just as she took it. Lisbon froze mid-strawberry-munch and switched her gaze fully to the man sat beside her. She stared for a few seconds, before gulping down the bite strawberry in one go.

'What was tha-' she started, but was broken off by Jane's lips suddenly on hers. Jane's heart was beating like a heavy bass drum as he prompted her to reciprocate the movements, the taste of strawberry covering her lips. Soon, Lisbon had recovered from the shock, and all she found she could do was to return the kiss. She didn't really understand why it was happening, but now wasn't the time to question. The taste of champagne and strawberries was all she could think about as the tip of her tongue skimmed over Jane's lip, and her hand slowly made its way up to rest on his neck. Her fingers curled round and tangled in the blonde curls at the base of his neck as they continued, their lips dancing in an intricate routine, choreographed by feelings that had been hidden for too long.

When they finally pulled away, they looked at each other breathlessly, and a soft smile broke over Jane's lips.

'Does this make me your official Valentine now?'


End file.
